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Posted: 10/19/2004 1:35:55 PM EDT
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Time for a flame fest, but this stuff sucks. I'm assuming the plastic case design is supposed to appeal to the military because it's lighter. What won't appeal to the military, or anyone for that matter, is the following: We bought a couple bozes to test in my friends mini 14. The first thing we noticed is the stuff is hugely underpowered. You could feel the difference very well with the 3 ammo types we brought. Q3131A sent a solid shockwave when fired and the mini 14 chucked its brass a good 30 ft. Federal AE wasn't quite as big of a boom and sent brass maybe 20ft. The Natec gave a little bang and lazily dumpped the spent casings out the side 5 ft. I don't have a chrono, but it's obviously a little weak. Secondly, it's inaccurate. The mini isn't known for great accuracy, but compared to the AE and Q3131A, the groups with the Natec ammunition were roughly twice the size. Third, it's fragile. Don't drop the magazine, you could easily offset the bullet. We realized that the case held the bullet so loosely you could pull the bullet with your fingers. No wonder it's innaccurate, God knows what hitting a feed ramp does to it. Finally, plastic, at least in the form they are using, is not suitable for the job. Less than 40 rounds into it we had a jam that brought the test to a complete halt. The entire front of the plastic casing, from the bottle neck up came off and stuck in the chamber during firing. The rifle obviously wouldn't feed and was going to require fixing of the kind you wouldn't want when squaring off with muqtada al sadr and friends. The advertisements really are true, save weight, an entire eight pounds, when you ditch your rifle and switch to your secondary because it's become fucking useless thanks to their ammunition. the short of it is, don't buy this shit. Even if it wasn't for the last problem we had, it would only be suitable as practice ammunition, but at the prices it goes for, it's not even good for that. It's certainly not combat worthy, and in my opinion, not even plinking worthy. No wonder it sucks, guntest gave it a good review. |
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Club Soda, There are several other threads on this stuff already. Your experience just adds to the concesus that in fact the stuff has to be "Worked on". Holler at Natec and tell them of your experience. Might not cure anything, but then ya never know. Best of luck! S-28 |
| I shot 1 - 20 round box out of an OLY CAR, and had 19 separations. That's right, 19 out of 20 cases separated. Now I have a local range that had 3 cases that they want $2.50 / box for. Hmmm... lemmie think... Repeated Emails to Natec have gone unanswered. I guess not... |
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I got 1400 rounds for around $100 because it is so crappy... and then I did some research... It seems that the PCA .223 is .223 spec ammo, and it separates regularly in 5.56mm chamber guns. In a Howa .223 bolt gun, and a .223 TC contender, it is flawless except for almost 100% pierced primers i the Howa - I think this is the gun, though. In a RRA match chamber, it's flawless as long as the chamber is spotless. In Oly arms 5.56mm chamber, it separates just as reliably. In a RRA Wylde chamber it separates unless you lube the cases [ I used Hornady one shot ], then it's 50/50. It is also a bit less than 50/50 in a HK93 with a fluted chamber, lubing made that worse.. The date on these rounds is DEC03. Supposedly dates after JUL04 are less prone to separation.. [new info] The Dec 03 lot has a tan case. I just picked up 500 rounds of grey cased PCA [Lot AUG 04] This ammo is in 50 round boxes similar to black hills instead of 20 round packs. I am going to try this and see if it's better... If anybody wants to send me different lots, I have sorta committed to testing this... |
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